


"Was It Something I Said?"

by spaghetti36



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Coming Out, Crying, Domestic Avengers, Dysphoria, Endgame who?, Gen, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Peter Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Trans Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 11:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20388895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaghetti36/pseuds/spaghetti36
Summary: When Peter Parker found out he would be spending his summer upstate with the Avengers he was ecstatic. He didn't consider that fact that he'd have to deal with his period whilst far from home (lmao). Tony is a confused dad and Natasha knows more than she's meant to.





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So this is just a random little thought that came to me whilst watching HC. Also in this household Endgame didn't happen and everyone is friends.
> 
> (This is my first fic pls be nice I'm sorry for any mistakes!)

Peter normally made sure he was at home in his seventh-floor apartment in Queens when he was due on his period. This time, however, he found himself staying at the Avengers Compound about four hours from said apartment. May was away in Europe for a few months working and as she wasn't comfortable with the concept of him staying in the apartment alone, it was agreed that Peter would spend the summer in the compound with Tony and whoever else was around.

Peter was, obviously, beyond excited about the arrangements and for the first two weeks, everything was amazing; he worked in the lab with Bruce and Tony, did various training exercises with Natasha, Steve and Bucky, and thrashed Clint and Sam at various video games. But his good mood was crushed when he woke up, one day, in the early hours of the morning to a familiar and unwelcome pain in his lower abdomen. 

During the past few years, Peter had started his transition, beginning the treatment about nine months before Tony Stark had approached him about an 'internship'. It wasn't something he liked to talk about, nor something he felt was necessary for the world to know about as it had taken a good deal of time for him to understand and accept himself, and it was for this reason that only a select few knew he was trans: Aunt May - of course- and his closest friends, Ned and MJ. All of them were extremely supportive and patient with Peter, and he knew that he could always rely on them to be there for him if he needed anything - whether it be comfort and reassurance, or a movie marathon with junk food and snuggling.

In his opinion, he passed quite well as a boy; his short brown hair and toned torso looked practically the same as any other masculine body, however, there were often days where Peter would feel insecure, dissatisfied with the job his binder did of flattening his chest. On days like these, his period served as another reminder that he wasn't, and would never be, a 'proper boy'. Normally during HRT, periods stop around six months after the treatment begins, but of course, Peter's enhanced healing factor caused the effects of the hormones to work slower than they usually would, even with a stronger dosage; this was why his voice was still slightly higher than he would like it to be, and the explanation as to why he was still menstruating after almost a year of HRT. The physical condition of his body and the emotional stress he went through added to the cloud of dysmorphic thoughts that preyed upon him during the weeks of insecurity, consuming him, and keeping him up into the early hour of the morning; the only way he could distract himself from the negativity was to go patrolling - focusing on helping the citizens of New York, instead of allowing his brain to bog him down, helped him to stay rational.

It hadn't crossed Peter's mind that he would have to deal with his period whilst staying with the Avengers. If he had he would've begged Aunt May to let him stay home, however, it was far too late now and as the reality of his situation sunk in, Peter felt a wave of anxiety wash over him and cause bile to start rising in his throat.

Needless to say, Peter knew that the concoction of pain, anxiety and growing nausea his body was brewing would prevent him from getting any more sleep that night, so, despite his body's protests, he dragged himself out of bed and made for the nearest bathroom. Once the door was locked, he immediately began looking in various cabinets for pads that he could use until he was able to go and buy some himself. After a few minutes of rummaging, he managed to find an open box at the back of a medical cabinet - almost certainly they belonged to Wanda or Pepper. Guiltily, he took the box and then packed the array of bandages, creams and serums back into their designated spots on the shelves, before closing the door and sliding the lock back into place.

Clutching the box to his side, he slowly padded back to his room as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb any of the Avengers that actually slept at night. His eyes were trained on the floor, trying to blink away the tears that were welling up in his eyes from falling, at the very least hiding them from the world. Peter was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that it took him a moment for his brain to register that he had walked into someone, becoming distracted by the pain and stress he was experiencing. He was brought back to reality by strong hands gripping his shoulders and the faint smell of coffee and motor oil.

"Woah, easy there kid!" The familiar voice that usually Peter would've found comforting and grounding caused Peter to panic, as subtly as he could, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around himself even tighter, feeling the cardboard become sweaty under his palms. "What are you doing up anyway, it's 4am, is everything okay?" His shoulders tensed as he made eye contact with the older man, blinking away the tears.

"Mr Stark! I am so sorry! I didn't see you, must've been thinking too much, or tired, it's super early!" Peter laughed nervously under the questioning stare of the older man before continuing; "Anyways, I, um, was too hot so went to the bathroom t-to splash cold water on my face to cool down..." Peter's rambling trailed off as he saw Tony's expression change from questioning to worried; he decided to stop taking before he said something that would get him caught out lying. 

"Right... Okay, do you want the air-con on, because you know you could've just asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to do that."

"It's okay Mr Stark, really, I'll be fine!" As he went to walk past Tony and continue walking back to his room, Tony put an arm out, stopping him from doing so. Peter sighed quietly as he felt two calloused fingers rest gently under his chin and push upwards, forcing his head up to meet the eyes of the billionaire

"Are you sure nothing's up Pete, you're acting... a little... off?" He motioned to Peter's arms that were still firmly secured around his waist, his sentence trailing off as if he was afraid of crossing any invisible boundaries or offending the boy in front of him. He wasn't an idiot, he knew something was definitely the matter with Peter as if his flushed cheeks and the slight sheen of sweat on his forehead disguised his lie any better than his rigid posture.

"Hmm? Oh, oh yeah I'm completely fine, Mr Stark, don't worry!" And with that be walked quickly away, leaving Tony standing in the dark corridor confused and looking worriedly after him.


	2. chapter 2

The next few days were absolute hell for Peter. Luckily, he had managed to convince Steve to take him along with him when he went to do the weekly food shop for the tower, so he was able to sneak off and buy himself some sanitary towels of his own, as well as some head pads and a bar of chocolate, using the self-service checkout to avoid any questions or awkward small talk about 'boyfriend duties'. He spent the majority of his time curled up on one of the well-worn leather sofas in the common room, re-watching Star Wars and playing video games he hadn't had the chance to play in the school term. As his emotions were all over the place, he tried to keep interactions with the other Avengers to a minimum, guiltily rejecting most of their offers to train, work or even play a game; he didn't want to come across as rude and cause them to hate him, but it was the easiest way for him to keep his composure together and cause as little suspicion as possible.

The Avengers, however, had almost immediately picked up on Peter's uncharacteristic behaviour. Naturally, it was the super spies who noticed first after Clint got screamed at for beating Peter at Mario Kart, upsetting him so much that he actually stormed off to his room and when he returned to the common room later that evening, he merely mumbled an apology to the archer, before returning to his nest of blankets and remaining quiet and closed off. Steve was next to pick up on Peter's change in behaviour after finding him crying at the sink because he had broken a plate when washing up after dinner. They mentioned the incidents to Tony, who only grew increasingly worried about Peter, wishing he would open up to him - he didn't, despite his best efforts to try and talk to him, but only brushed him off while maintaining his cheery façade.

After two days of Peter acting strangely, the team decided to meet and discuss the matter while Peter was showering.

"So..." Clint began, breaking the silence, "Does anyone have any idea what's wrong with the kid?" He looked around the room and was met by a mixture of worried and confused faces, a pacing Tony and Natasha's hard to read face that was looking directly at him - even after knowing her for years, he still struggled to decipher her thoughts sometimes.

"I say we get Wanda to just read his mind, at least then we would know for sure what the problem with the punk is," Sam suggested after a while, Bucky and Wanda murmured in agreement.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Natasha spoke up for the first time that morning, gaining everyone's attention and silencing the chatter almost instantaneously, her calm yet biting tone cutting through the air. "Doing that would cause Peter to lose all trust he has in us, as well as being a huge violation of privacy,"

"Since when do you care about invading people's privacy, you've been a spy for decades, Nat!" Wanda joked, laughing quietly at her own comment but quickly shut up after she received an icy look from Clint as well as the assassin herself.

"If we just ignore his out of character behaviour and don't put pressure on him, he'll tell us in his own time. Some things are personal y'know?" She gave a knowing look to Clint, before walking out of the room in long strides. Clint sighed and jogged out after her.

"Well, I guess that's sorted then," Bucky laughed feebly, before going back to the kitchen where he had been preparing to make cupcakes, Sam leaving with him.

"He'll be okay Tony," Steve approached the man and pulled him into a brief yet firm embrace, "Give him a little more time, he'll come round."


	3. chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oof this ones a little shorter but shit goes down y'all

The following evening was a Friday evening which meant that it was movie night. Everyone was gathered in the common room, spread out on the various armchairs, sofas and beanbags. Peter curled up in between Tony and Steve, clutching a hot water bottle as if it was a lifeline and snuggled down into his space as Bruce set up the TV with one of the Lord of the Rings films Thor had picked the many battle scenes made him nostalgic of his days fighting the Frost Giants in the Battle of Jotunheim. 

The three hours passed quickly and soon the end credits were rolling by. Steve, Wanda, Sam and Bucky immediately got and went to tidy up the mess in the kitchen that was created when preparing snacks, whilst Thor and Bruce continued to snooze in adjacent armchairs; Natasha and Clint made no effort to move, both getting out their phones to continue the scrabble game they started earlier that day. 

"Well, I'm going back down to the lab, you coming Pete?" Tony asked the ball of blankets beside him. No response. "Underoos? Lab. You coming or not?" He tried again, this time gently prodding the fluffy pile. A disgruntled Peter emerged and rolled his eyes;

"I heard you the first time," He huffed, his voice laced with attitude.

"Jeez, sorry kid, what's up with you, time of the month?" Tony said, laughing awkwardly at his own joke in a fruitless attempt to lighten the mood. He slung an arm around Peter's shoulder and went to ruffle his mop of curls, but instead of leaning into the touch like he usually did, Peter moved away from him, shrugging Tony's arm off of his shoulder before suddenly rising. 

"Fuck you" Peter spat out tearily, before storming out of the room, leaving blankets strewn across the floor, a shocked Tony and a heavy silence. Wincing after Peter slammed the door behind him, Tony looked around the room in bewilderment, eventually meeting Natasha's eyes; "Was it something I said?"


	4. Chapter 4

The night air was chilling against his skin as he sat on the roof of the compound, but Peter didn't care. He was so angry at himself, he'd just sworn at Tony Stark! His mentor, Iron Man, the closest thing he had to a father, the man who did nothing but look out for Peter, even if he went a little too far sometimes. He probably hated him now or thought that Peter hated him, he wasn't sure which one would be worse. It wasn't Tony's fault he was in a bad mood and now he probably felt like it was; Tony didn't know Peter was trans, Peter hadn't felt it was important or necessary for him to know, so he had no idea of the effect his joke had on the teen - Peter knew he hadn't meant any harm, but it had hit a little too close to home.

He sobbed quietly into his hands, deep intense breaths shaking his body and goose bumps prickling his skin from the nippy wind. He didn't even Natasha casually walking over and setting herself down next to him and crossing her legs, looking out into the illuminated city. A careful hand began to rub soothing circles on his hunched back, the touch firm but somewhat timid.

"How long маленький паук?"

~ ~ ~

Natasha's title of 'super spy' wasn't just for show; she noticed the smallest habits and mannerisms of all her fellow Avengers, like how Tony would clasp his hands and press them to his lips whenever he was anxious, or the slight flicker of green in Bruce's eyes every now and then when he got frustrated with something. Therefore, it hadn't been difficult for her to pick up on the fact that Peter was trans. She'd had her suspicions before due to the high pitches his voice could reach and his slightly prominent hip bones, but she hadn't given it that much thought, largely out of respect for Peter's privacy - it wasn't her business to go prodding about in the boy's medical history. Usually, Natasha would have no problem digging about in personal records - it was a large part of her job - however, she knew this was a sensitive matter and she suspected that Peter had told those he wanted to know and left the rest of the world oblivious. 

She became curious after Clint had walked into the kitchen and began frantically searching for the ice cream in the large stocked freezer, rambling about Peter storming off, before running out again with a tub of cookie dough ice cream and a spoon tucked under his arm - she didn't know whether it was for the archer or the sad teenager. Steve's concerned recount of how he found Peter crying whilst washing up also caused her mind to run, trying to link the events up with one another. Funnily enough, it was Wanda who confirmed her theory when she came into Natasha's room, accusing her of taking the box of pads from the cabinet, taking the blame on Peter's behalf. Of course, she wasn't 100% sure and didn't want to cause any offence, so decided she would approach the situation with an ambiguous question:

"How long маленький паук?"

~ ~ ~

Peter sniffed and lifted his head to see the redheaded assassin sitting on the ledge beside him. 

"Ms Romanoff how-" Peter sighed shakily, there was no point in asking how she knew, he knew one of the Avengers would figure out he was trans soon - of course it was one of the super spies. "Two years," he mumbled nervously.

"Tony doesn't know?"

"Nobody on the team, well, except for Mr Rogers maybe. I made a bet with Ned on whether it'd be you or him who found out first," he laughed wetly.

"And how did that go for you?" 

"Looks like I owe him $10."

Natasha chuckled and shook her head, "You underestimated me Питер. Did you forget I was one of S.H.I.E.L.D's best spies?"

"Of course not Ms Romanoff, but Mr Rogers acts like such a mother hen, fussing over everyone constantly, I figured he was the only one who paid enough attention to detail to notice." He trailed off and laughed nervously again, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand.

"Pete..." The unusual softness in Natasha's voice made him meet her eyes, brown meeting green. The assassin had stopped rubbing circles on Peter's back and had manoeuvred her body so it now faced the boy fully. "I'm not saying you have to tell anyone anything..." she began carefully, "...but I do think you should go talk to Tony - he's really beating himself up about the whole common room incident." Another pang of guilt washed over Peter at the mention of Tony. He let Natasha pull him into a soft but firm hug before she rose and pressed a kiss to his mop of curls, before turning and walking back to the window she'd initially climbed through.


	5. chapter 5

Tony was fine, completely fine. He wasn't freaking out at all. He had taken Clint's advice to let Peter cool off and let Natasha go and calm him down - they all knew that the kid brought out a kind of maternal softness in Natasha. In order to distract himself in the meantime, Tony decided to continue down to the lab and work on adjustments to Rhodey's suit. However, the tinkering soon turned to nervous pacing to Metallica as guilt seeped through his body. How had he upset Peter to such a large degree? Hell, the kid even swore, which is something he rarely did! It was obvious he'd screwed up, but how? God, he was turning into a bad parent, just like his father. Wait, no, he wasn't Peter's dad, he was his mentor, ally, a friend perhaps. Definitely not a fatherly figure, even if Peter had called him 'dad' on multiple occasions - the kid's brain was fried from tired from staying up late helping Tony in the lab, right? Not that he minded Peter calling him dad, he just didn't want to address it, in case he overstepped boundaries or destroyed whatever they had. What if-

"Mr Stark?"

Tony was pulled out of his thoughts by a light and small voice - Peter. He hadn't heard F.R.I.D.A.Y announce him approaching, too lost in thought he supposed. The billionaire swallowed the lump in his throat and turned to face Peter, who had changed into pyjamas and was sporting a pair of baggy tracksuit bottoms and a Stark Industries hoodie that swamped his small frame. 

"Kid, I-"

"Mr Stark, before you apologise, please listen for a minute." Peter's voice had a hint of urgency to it and Tony noticed the glassiness to his eyes; he was clearly nervous and possibly still upset by the dispute - if you would even call it that - earlier, so Tony decided to nod slowly and motion for Peter to take a seat on the worn leather futon at the far end of the lab, sitting down himself and leaning back into the squishy cushions. Peter shuffled over and sat down timidly, before curling into Tony's side, finding comfort in the light rhythm his heartbeat drummed. 

"Mr Stark, I-I'm so sorry for swearing at you, a-and for generally being so-so horrible lately." Peter started, his stuttering slightly muffled as he nuzzled into Tony's shirt. "I-It's just that I-" His explanation broke down into sobs that caused his body to tremble, tears falling freely and creating blotches on Tony's shirt. Tony himself was taken aback, momentarily freezing before pulling Peter further into his side and bringing his hand up to Peter's head, carding his fingers through the messy curls.

"Hey, hey, it's okay kid, I'm not mad or anything. Can you calm down for me bud?" 

After several minutes of soothing him, Peter's breathing finally evened out again. "You ready to talk yet Pete?" Tony's voice was gentle and encouraging; Peter lifted his head and was met with the same softness in his eyes - patient, yet inquisitive, with a hint of worry. This was it. Peter prepared himself for judgement; he felt just as nervous as he did when he came out to May; he was possibly about to lose the last father-figure he had left in his life. But it wasn't fair to keep lying to him, heck, it probably wouldn't make any difference, but Peter prepared himself for the worst anyway.

"Mr Stark, I-I'm trans..."


	6. chapter 6

"Mr Stark, I-I'm trans..."

For a moment, Tony remained in shocked silence, his brain processing the new information. How had he not picked up on this before? He had reviewed Peter's medical history multiple times and hadn't seen anything that would even suggest Peter's transition. Pushing his thoughts to the back of his head, he wrapped his arms around Peter, holding him with strong arms, hoping to make his boy feel safe. 

"Pete, I-I had no idea, I'm-"

"No, it's fine Mr Stark, I didn't tell you - how could you have known, not many people know anyway, just you and Ms Romanoff from the team."

Tony released him and Peter and the younger turned around to face him.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you before, I was - I just was scared, but, I mean, at least you know now." 

Peter's gaze was focused on his hands which were resting on the sofa, Tony placed his on top of them, causing Peter to look up: "Kid, it's okay, I get it. It's a big deal to you and I'm honoured that you chose to tell me. But, so - how do I say this - so, you being all emotional and grumpy-"

"Yeah, uh, that my, uh, period." Peter stuttered, his cheeks reddening as he looked down at his hands again, clearly slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed. "Which is why I got upset and swore at you, which I am so sorry about Mr Stark it-"

Quit apologising kid," Tony chuckled reaching round and ruffling his hair affectionately. "I'm sorry I made the joke in the first place, it was never guna improve your mood, regardless." He paused again and smiled at Peter, who giggled softly, "Why don't we go continue movie night huh? There's plenty of ice cream in the freezer, that is if Clint and Sam haven't eaten it all." Peter nodded and the two made their way back to the elevator, Tony keeping his arm slung over the teenager's shoulder.

Peter tried his best to ignore the questioning and wary looks cast between the other Avengers as he walked back into the room and resumed his spot on the sofa, snuggling into Steve who merely laughed and placed a blanket over them both. Scanning the room, he met Natasha's eyes, who smiled warmly at him before curling up and resting her head on Clint's lap who immediately began fiddling with her hair. Tony walked in a few minutes later, with two tubs of ice cream and spoons, handing one of each to Peter and one of the spoons to Steve. Peter shifted over allowing Tony to sit comfortably next to the supersoldier and then mimicked Natasha's position, resting his head on Tony's thigh as he shovelled strawberry ice cream into his mouth. Unphased, Tony simply opened his and Steve's tub and wedged it into the little space between their legs.

Not even a third of the way through the film, Peter felt his eyelids growing heavy. Both Natasha and Clint were asleep - Clint holding the end of a half-finished braid - and Sam and Bucky were watching contentedly as Luke Skywalker flew around in his spaceship. Bruce had retired to his room a while back and Thor was in the kitchen making popcorn whilst Wanda made milkshakes. Tony began to run his fingers through the sleepy teen's hair, his own head resting on Steve's shoulder who looked incredibly smug - Sam went to comment on them, however, he stopped himself after receiving a harsh glare from the man who apparently had known what he was thinking. As he felt his consciousness slipping away from him, he slurred goodnight to Tony.

"Love you, dad."

Tony smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, hope it was okay :)


End file.
